MARCH 27, 2006

Italian GP threat over

The Autodromo Nazionale at Monza can run the Italian Grand Prix without problems. A deal has been brokered by the mayor of the city Michele Faglia with three families living in the village of Biassono. They took the circuit management company SIAS to court in 2001 claiming that the circuit was too noisy and last autumn a judge Marco Manunta ruled in their favour, despite the fact that the people in question knew there was a race track next to their homes when they bought them.

The circuit appealed Manunta's decision but lost and so Faglia decided to do his own deal and talked with the parties involved, explaining the damage that they would do to the local economy and perhaps pointing out that they might not be popular in the neighbourhood if the race was called off.

The families involved have now agreed on a compromise with Monza agreeing to restrict the number of days running and to look at noise restriction measures, such as sound-deflecting walls.